Every Thursday before 7 a.m., Trent Strauch buys four dozen doughnuts — all glazed, to prevent arguments — for the eighth graders in his homeroom class.

But this Thursday's trip to Krispy Kreme was anything but routine.

The store on Kennedy Boulevard looked like a crime scene as lights flashed across the still-dark sky from police cruisers blocking traffic. Strauch, 46, entered the parking lot from an alley and got a pat-down before he could enter.

Within an hour, he became a highlight of national political reports.

"Can I just point out Trent is a math teacher," President Barack Obama told reporters packed inside the doughnut shop. "He's buying doughnuts for his kids. So that whole math-doughnut connection is the key to school reform, because I know his kids are doing great."